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A checklist on a clipboard
Consider how well a source covers your topic.

Figuring out whether a website or other source is suitable for your purpose also means looking at how thoroughly it covers your topic

You can evaluate thoroughness in relation to other sources you have found or will find on the same topic. Compare your source to how other sources cover the material, checking for missing topics or perspectives.

An important note:

Per the information timeline/lifecycle, recall that sources are not all created equal. Some are going to be more current but less authoritative, while others might be less current, but more accurate. The information timeline greatly influences how accurate, current, and comprehensive a source is.

For this reason, instructors require students to find a variety of types of sources simply because each source should be looked at in relation to the others. Can a more current newspaper or magazine article update information you found in a book? Does the book source backup a more popular source by providing a deeper discussion supported by sources and evidence not found in the popular source?

Leverage your understanding of source types and the information cycle to vet the sources you have chosen. If a particular source can’t be confirmed, verified, or otherwise substantiated by your other sources, leave it and move on to something more reliable and credible.


Clues about Thoroughness

Click around a site to get some idea of how thoroughly it covers the topic. If the source you are evaluating is a print resource, read the introduction and conclusion and also the table of contents to get a glimpse of what it covers. Look at the index to see what subjects are covered with the most pages. Is it thorough enough to meet your information need?

Tip: Related Sites

Use Google to find other sites on the same topic by entering related:[the URL of the site you know] in the search box.

For example: related:associatedstudentsgcc.com

Use this technique to browse other sites Google turns up. Do other sites cover aspects of the topic that are missing from the site you are evaluating? Or does your site stack up pretty well against the competition?

 


Making the Inference

Consider the clues. Then decide the extent that the source’s thoroughness is acceptable for your purpose. It might help to grade the extent that this factor contributes to the source being suitable on a scale like this one:

  • A – Very Acceptable
  • B – Good, but could be better
  • C – OK in a pinch
  • D – Marginal
  • F – Unacceptable

You’ll want to make a note of the source’s grade for thoroughness so you can combine it later with the grades you give the other factors.

License

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Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research Copyright © 2015 by Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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